Substance abuse. What are the symptoms and effects of glue addiction Acetone substance abuse

Substance abuse is the abuse of chemical substances not included in the official list, which is manifested by the development of dependence on them. Substance abuse is prevalent mainly among teenagers.

Types of substance abuse

The first cases of substance abuse arose in the United States in the 60s of the twentieth century. At that time, there were reports of young people using volatile substances (gasoline, thinner, paints, acetone) to obtain the effect of drug intoxication. Already in the 70s, substance abuse seeped into the Soviet Union. But the problem reached its greatest scale in post-Soviet countries already in the 90s. This wave claimed the lives of many young people.

Substance abuse refers to dependence not only on volatile substances, but also on drugs. In general, the following types of substance abuse are distinguished:

• Substance abuse caused by inhalation of volatile substances (inhalants);
• Substance abuse caused by abuse of psychoactive drugs:

What is the difference between substance abuse and? From a medical point of view, these concepts are almost identical. Substance abuse, just like drug addiction, is manifested by a pathological attraction to a substance, dependence on it, and the development of withdrawal syndrome when abstaining from using the substance.

The differences between these concepts are determined by legal aspects. Substances used by substance abusers are not included in the state list of narcotic drugs. We use gasoline, paints and varnishes, and medicines for their intended purposes in our lives, and it is completely impossible to prohibit their sale. These substances are absolutely available, they are sold in stores, and their possession is not punishable by law. All these aspects benefit teenagers who, in pursuit of new experiences, begin to experiment with various substances.

Signs of substance abuse

Substance abuse is common mainly among teenagers and especially among children from disadvantaged families. As a rule, young people are driven to use psychoactive substances by curiosity, as well as the desire to imitate authorities. At first, dangerous substances are used in groups, then the patient tends to use the substances alone.

Methods of using prohibited substances for substance abuse are limited. To achieve a narcotic effect, psychoactive drugs are taken orally in large quantities. Volatile substances are inhaled by drug addicts. As a rule, cotton cloth is soaked in the substance, applied to the nose and inhaled. Or they pour the substance into a cellophane bag, apply it to the mouth and nose, inhaling the vapors. The most dangerous way is to put a bag over your head. There are often cases when a person died with a bag on his head, due to the fact that in a state of intoxication he did not have time to remove it from himself.

Drug intoxication occurs within a few seconds after inhaling inhalants. Acute intoxication with various substances has its own clinical characteristics.

Substance abuse with glue

In the Soviet Union, Moment glue became a real attribute of drug addicts. The narcotic effect of the glue was due to the toluene contained in it.. However, as Momentom’s substance abuse gained enormous proportions, the manufacturer’s reputation deteriorated. Therefore, in the late 90s, toluene was excluded from the glue composition, after which drug addicts lost interest in it.

When inhaling glue, the first thing that occurs is noise in the head, double vision, increased heart rate, sore throat, and increased salivation and lacrimation. Euphoria soon appears. As you continue to inhale the vapors, hallucinations occur. Moreover, it is characteristic that hallucinations from the words of drug addicts resemble “cartoons.” Images of people appear before the eyes of the addict, whole plots and actions unfold, usually of an entertainment nature. At the same time, the drug addict himself observes all this from the side, like a spectator, and is not involved in the plot. The patient can control hallucinations, causing their content to change. Drug addicts themselves call this phenomenon “ordering cartoons.”

During drug intoxication, a person’s speech becomes slurred and movements are uncoordinated. From the outside, the teenager looks stunned, his eyelids are half-lowered, and there is a smile frozen on his face. The patient does not react in any way to contacting him.

Once you stop inhaling the glue, the hallucinations soon disappear. The patient begins to feel severe weakness, specific. A rapid heartbeat may also be observed. These symptoms may haunt the patient for several more days.

Gasoline addiction

Drug intoxication when inhaling gasoline vapors is caused by the constituents of toluene, benzene, and xylene. Intoxication begins with a sensation of soreness in the nose and throat, redness of the face and eyes, increased heart rate, and loss of coordination. All these are the body’s protective reactions to poisoning. But this does not stop the person and he takes the next breaths.

Now there is euphoria, a feeling of some kind of intoxication, a slight “pleasant” dizziness. With continued inhalation, a delirious disorder with visual and auditory hallucinations develops. In this case, changes in consciousness are accompanied by a feeling of fear, but also curiosity. With gasoline addiction, a person is not able to “order hallucinations,” as happens when inhaling other inhalants. At the initial stage of delirium, the patient remains critical of everything that happens. However, soon the hallucinations are perceived as real, and therefore the person can run away somewhere, defend himself from pursuers, etc.

With the cessation of inhaling gasoline, consciousness begins to partially recover. Therefore, substance abuse is not accompanied by aggressive actions of the patient, attacking people, jumping out of windows, etc. Much more real is the potential danger of getting burned, for example, when trying to smoke, because teenagers forget to wash their hands and face from gasoline.

After stopping inhalations, consciousness clears up 10-30 minutes later. Hallucinations disappear completely, but are replaced by stupor. The person feels lethargic, weak, and has headaches.

Development of addiction

The period of occasional use of inhalants lasts on average 1-5 months. Mental dependence is gradually formed, one of the signs of which can be considered a transition to the solitary use of chemical substances. An increase in tolerance is also noted; to achieve the same effect, the patient lengthens the duration of inhalation and repeats it several times a day. During breaks between inhalations, the patient is tormented by irritability and thoughts about the desired substance.

Regular and prolonged use of chemical substances soon leads to the formation of physical dependence. Abstinence from inhalations is manifested by a real withdrawal syndrome, which is characterized by an angry mood, loss of appetite, muscle and even muscular pain. At this stage, the drug addict is no longer able to quit on his own, to “quit” the use of toxic substances.

Consequences of substance abuse

With regular use of inhalants, toxic brain damage develops in a matter of months - encephalopathy. As a result, the teenager’s intelligence and reaction speed deteriorate. New material is difficult to remember, the level of intelligence progressively decreases, which causes problems with learning. Teenagers become passive, inactive, they can lie aimlessly on the bed all day long, distracted only by using inhalants. In other cases, teenagers, on the contrary, become aggressive and pugnacious, which is why conflict situations constantly arise. They usually drop out of school and run away from home.

The addict often experiences headaches, dizziness, and insomnia. The gait becomes unsteady, movements are unclear. Muscle tremors and spontaneous nystagmus are also noted. All these mental and neurological disorders are provoked by the toxic effects of inhalants. But it is worth noting that these disorders are very persistent and no longer disappear completely even after giving up inhalants. But with substance abuse, it is not only the nervous system that suffers. The organs of vision and breathing, kidneys, and liver are inevitably affected.

Principles of treatment

Substance abuse is rare among adults. Teenagers who use inhalants either eventually stop using them or switch to alcohol and drugs. Substance abuse cannot be ignored, because addiction can cause serious damage to a child’s life.

At the initial stages of substance abuse, individual psychotherapy is carried out on an outpatient basis.. If the disease is advanced, the teenager is placed in a drug treatment clinic, where detoxification is carried out, as well as drug treatment aimed at restoring brain function. Psychotherapy remains the basis of treatment, which helps the child to correctly prioritize in life and identify important goals for himself.

Substance abuse in the modern sense was first recorded in the United States in 1960. The police received the first alarming report of teenagers who inhale gaseous substances, driving themselves to drug intoxication. Gasoline, solvents, varnishes, paints - in fact, any household chemical liquids were suitable for such dangerous entertainment. Substance abuse came to the USSR a little late: even under the conditions of the Iron Curtain and the accompanying information isolation, Soviet teenagers came up with unconventional ways of using gasoline, stain removers, dichlorvos and, of course, the legendary Moment glue.

Until the mid-1980s, substance abuse in the USSR was not widespread, and its foci were located mainly on the very outskirts and in the “dead” spots of the country. There were exceptions: for example, a real epidemic of substance abuse broke out in the Baltic states in 1975 - but even this, despite its scale, was an isolated phenomenon and could not cause a pattern. It must be said that, according to the Ministry of Health, which kept a less attentive, in contrast to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, accounting of “contingents of patients with substance abuse and drug addiction”, by 1955 in the USSR only 1,854 people were identified who abused chemicals and narcotic substances to the detriment of their health.

Gasoline, solvents, varnishes, paints - in fact, any household chemical liquids were suitable for such dangerous entertainment.

VIKTOR PELEVIN

"Generation P"

“If cocaine was sold in pharmacies for twenty kopecks per gram as a rinse for toothache, only punks would snort it - as was, in fact, the case at the beginning of the century. But if “Moment” glue cost a thousand dollars per bottle, all Moscow’s golden youth would eagerly sniff it, and at presentations and receptions it would be considered refined to spread a volatile chemical smell around oneself, complain about the death of brain neurons and retire to the toilet for a long time.” .

Fracture

The situation was dramatically changed by Mikhail Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign, launched in 1985-1990 and carried out under the slogan “Sobriety is the norm of life.” In those years, cheap Andropovka vodka (which cost 4 rubles 70 kopecks) disappeared from the shelves, and its closest equivalent cost twice as much. Stores selling alcohol were closed, and the remaining ones served alcohol from 14:00 to 19:00. In Russia, Moldova and Ukraine, vineyards were cut down, factories were closed (the legendary Massandra factory was almost destroyed), which is why grape varieties and table wines disappeared forever - for example, the Black Doctor brand was considered irretrievably lost until recently . Police control has increased: severe reprimands, dismissals, expulsions from the party and school have become a much more tangible threat than before.

Moonshining required knowledge of technical processes and equipment for the production of surrogates, and buying vodka from taxi drivers required mutual courage on both sides. Harder drugs remained the prerogative of former prisoners or soldiers who served in Central Asia, veterans of the Afghan campaign of 1979-1989, and chemist enthusiasts. But glue and a plastic bag - everything that is needed for toxic inhalation - could be bought at any hardware store under the pretext of “gluing up a model ship.” And although already in 1987 the “semi-prohibition law” was actually suspended, two years was enough for children from wealthy and large cities of the USSR to become addicted to the new drug. The Lower Volga region, Astrakhan, and certain areas of Moscow and Leningrad have adopted new ways to “get high.”

Glue and a plastic bag - everything needed for toxic inhalation - could be bought at any hardware store under the pretext of “gluing up a model ship”

Legs McNeill, Gillian McCain

“Please kill me!”

“Not only was I smoking good weed, but I also started snorting glue,” Dee Dee Ramone recalls. – Glue, tuinal and seconal. Funny, you can't take your head out of the bag. We poisoned together with Egg, my friend, because Egg was such a guy. He didn't do dope, weed, or acid, and he liked to snort Carbona (a cleaning fluid) and glue. After sniffing the glue, we started making phone calls.

There were such numbers, you called there, and strange beeps were heard on the receiver. We called, it sounded “Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep”, and we listened to these sounds for hours. Then they sniffed glue. If we didn't have glue, Egg would go to the supermarket, bring back a couple of cans of whipped cream, and we'd snort the gas from there. Anything to make you crazy - cough medicine, glue, Tuinal, Seconal.”

Acceleration

The “acceleration period” of Gorbachev’s perestroika passed at a slower speed for many children. Schoolchildren and vocational school students, in search of new sensations, have chosen basements, roofs and abandoned buildings. At first, the inhalation technique was imperfect: teenagers put a bag with a toxic substance on their heads. Already by 1986, after 10 recorded deaths in Leningrad alone (after a deep breath, the teenager was unable to pull the bag off his head), the film began to be applied to the face.

An episode of such a death is very colorfully depicted in Albert Mkrtchtyan’s 1990 film “State House.” There, a black pupil of the orphanage Gamal, nicknamed “Brownie”, dies with a bag on his head in an abandoned church, having inhaled benzene fumes. Towards the end of the film, as a warning to his comrade, who reached out to the treasured canister, he will be resurrected as a hallucination with an ominous voice and sparkling green eyes: “Remember, you dreamed of me? I called you."

Instantly, informal slang for substance abusers begins to form: “mask” means alternate inhalation through the nose and mouth, and “petal” means exclusively through the mouth. The ritual of substance abuse itself is called “shabby”. Teenagers are already “getting wild” all over the country: if in 1980 only 36 thousand drug addicts were registered throughout the USSR, then by 1987 their number, according to reports from the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and data from researchers I.G. Urakova and L.D. Miroshnichenko, exceeds the mark of 51,900 people, of which 8 thousand prefer substance abuse to more expensive and hard-to-find drugs.

And these are only citizens registered in drug treatment institutions. By 1987, 130,300 people had already been identified as drug addicts and substance abusers who had not been seen by narcologists. The narcological service for identifying substance abusers is knocked down, and the result of their work is the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of 1987: adolescents under 16 years of age who evade voluntary treatment are forced to undergo compulsory treatment in drug treatment centers - treatment and educational dispensaries for a period of six months to two years. Until 1989, sulfozine (sublimating sulfur in peach oil), widely used in psychiatry to pacify particularly violent patients, was used as a detoxification agent in such institutions.

Typically, the formation of drug-addicted “collectives” occurs at the place of residence or study - entire classes are often recorded inhaling glue at odd hours. In groups of substance abusers, the male gender predominates; the average statistical value of women in the drug environment is 11.9%, among drug addicts - only 3%. The age category ranges from 12-18 years; a significant number of teenagers have troubled backgrounds; many are registered in the children's room of the police. The leaders of drug-addicted groups most often belong to unstable and epileptoid character types, and the “extras” consist of the most conforming teenagers.

"Mask" means alternate inhalation through the nose
and the mouth, and the “petal” - exclusively with the mouth.
The ritual of substance abuse itself is called “shabby”.

DMITRY MISHENIN

art group Doping-Pong

“One day we came to a basketball sports school and they gathered us in the conference room. And there the coach told us that five boys with whom we played yesterday in the match for the title of national champion among juniors of the Soviet Union were found at the home of one of them - dead, with gas masks on their heads and with plastic bags with glue attached to the hoses " Moment". It was 1985 outside. We were 13 years old. We all came from good families. It was a terrible moment. Our entire team sat in complete silence and in complete shock from the news they heard. Only icy goosebumps ran across my skin, and I felt extremely uneasy.”

Effect

What does a substance abuser observe? The nature of the hallucinations may depend on the substance. So, according to drug addicts, acetone is more likely to cause hallucinations of sexual content. A 10-minute inhalation of gasoline vapors (benzene, xylene, toluene) contributes to the emergence of frightening visual and auditory hallucinations based on previous experiences - books, pioneer camp horror stories and films. The euphoria passes after 15-30 minutes, and the stunned teenager returns to reality, combined with headache, lethargy, irritability and nausea. Repeated inhalation contributes to the development of delirium - monsters and beasts, space flights and battles with devils return again.

Stories that, under the influence of gasoline fumes, teenagers jumped out of the window to escape a hidden threat are probably exaggerated. Even despite the adventurous nature of hallucinations, drug addicts who have received a “dose” are too inhibited to run somewhere, much less jump. Stories about fires and burns ring more true: in them, juvenile drug addicts tried to smoke without washing flammable stains off their faces and hands. The popularity of gasoline among drug addicts was also due to the fact that to obtain it you did not need either money or burglary - just drain a glass of fuel from a parked Moskvich.

And yet, Moment glue remained the king of toxic inhalants for almost 20 years. Bought under license from the German company Henkel in 1979, “Moment” immediately earned recognition not only among workers and housewives, but also among “difficult” teenagers. It is “Moment” that will be associated with “watching cartoons” - that is, euphoric hallucination.

Behind the harmless slang name, obviously, was hidden the so-called “Leroy syndrome” (another name is “Lilliputian hallucinations”), which consists of observing non-existent small creatures against the background of the usual size of the environment. According to various versions, the manifestation of Leroy's syndrome can be facilitated by both intoxication psychosis and damage to the temporal lobes and olfactory brain. In 1998, toluene was excluded from the composition of Moment glue, which provided the desired effect during inhalation.

In 1998, toluene was excluded from the composition of Moment glue, which provided the desired effect during inhalation

Substance abuse is a set of painful conditions characterized by craving and addiction to taking medications and other substances that are not classified as narcotic according to the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. They are characterized by chronic intoxication, the presence of mental and/or physical dependence syndromes.

Gasoline addiction

The active ingredients in gasoline that cause an intoxicating narcotic effect are aromatic hydrocarbons - toluene, xylene, benzene. The process of substance abuse occurs by inhaling gasoline vapors for 10 minutes, using a cloth soaked in gasoline. During this process, the respiratory tract is irritated by gasoline vapors, causing a cough and sore throat. After some time, the face turns red, the pulse quickens, the pupils dilate, gait and movements become uncoordinated, and speech is impaired. Then a state of euphoria sets in. As you continue to inhale gasoline vapors, a mental disorder (delirium) gradually develops, characterized by delusions and hallucinations. If you stop inhaling gasoline vapors, after about 20-30 minutes the drug intoxication goes away and a headache, severe nausea, lethargy, irritability, and apathy appear. Moreover, these symptoms persist for a long time.

Acetone substance abuse

This type of substance abuse, like all other types of substance abuse, is characterized by severe hallucinations. But they come much faster. Immediately after inhaling acetone vapor, a slight euphoria appears and against its background, hallucinations begin and disorientation in time occurs. Hallucinations can be quite colorful, mostly of sexual content. During hallucinations, teenagers sit with their heads bowed, not reacting to the world around them, their eyes are half closed. If inhalation of acetone vapor continues for a long time, coma may occur. After the teenager emerges from the intoxicated state, severe weakness, irritability, apathy appear, nausea and vomiting occur.

Substance abuse with nitro paint solvents

This type of substance abuse when inhaling vapors of nitro paint solvents is characterized by a disorder of consciousness, motor revival, and a rapid change from a state of ecstasy to strong anger. If vapor inhalation continues, delirium develops with auditory and visual hallucinations. Lightness appears in the body, spiritual uplift is felt. After a state of drug intoxication, severe weakness in the body, headache and vomiting occur.

Substance abuse with glue

In this type of substance abuse, certain brands of glue are used. It is poured into a plastic bag, and then this bag is put on the head. There are cases when, in a state of drug intoxication, teenagers cannot remove a bag of glue from their heads, as a result of which they die from suffocation.

The onset of drug intoxication is characterized by mild euphoria, followed by hallucinations. After recovering from drug intoxication, severe headache, general weakness, nausea and vomiting appear.

All of the listed types of substance abuse cause serious destruction in the body of a teenager. With a long process of substance abuse over 1-2 years, irreversible changes occur in the brain and other organs, and adolescents become weak-minded.

III. Clinical manifestations of substance abuse (symptoms of substance abuse)

There are such types of substance abuse as inhalation (vapors of gasoline, acetone, paint, etc. are inhaled), anticholinergic substance abuse and abuse of hallucinogens, as well as abuse of tranquilizers.

Intoxication due to substance abuse is divided into 3 phases:

The first phase is partly similar to alcohol intoxication, characterized by a pleasant noise in the head, emotional uplift, and relaxation of the limbs. The patient's consciousness is narrowed, but it can be easily awakened.

The second phase is characterized by lightness, causeless fun, loss of clarity of consciousness, and the replacement of reality with illusory visions. The feeling of the body, its balance are lost, coordination is disrupted.

Third phase – Visual hallucinations occur. This phase may also be accompanied by illusions of touch, in which the patient sees insects crawling on his body. Various sensory disorders occur, the patient sees the walls moving, the ceiling collapsing, and experiences feelings such as flying and falling. There comes a complete loss of self-identification, a collapse of personality.

Coming out of intoxication is accompanied by weakening and depression of mental functions, fatigue, weakness, and large doses are characterized by nausea and vomiting.

Substance abuse is not always accompanied by addiction. With weak euphoria and the presence of complications, such as vomiting, nausea, severe headache, further interest in using substances may not arise. However, if a feeling of pleasure arises, as a rule, it becomes systematic. It has been noted that in case of inhalant substance abuse, 4-5 cases of inhalation are enough to switch to regular snorting.

Regular use of the drug leads to changes in its effects, as well as the disappearance of protective reactions in the form of headaches and nausea. The tolerance to the drug increases, so the patient, in order to achieve the same sensations, begins to use a double or triple dose of the substance, and addiction appears.

After 1-2 months, destruction of internal organs, the brain, and the nervous system occurs. After 1-2 years, disability occurs due to the death of nerve tissue, liver cirrhosis, and renal failure. Dementia may develop.

IV. Diagnosis of substance abuse

Substance abuse is diagnosed based on a thorough history and assessment of the patient’s psychopathological, neurological and somatic status. The examination is aimed at examining the characteristics of his behavior, the condition of the pupils, skin color, mucous membrane of the oral cavity and tongue.

In addition, laboratory methods are used, which are carried out by special chemical and toxicological laboratories. Laboratory tests are aimed at detecting toxic substances in biological fluids (for example, urine).

Substance abuse is the inhalation of volatile drugs. Substance abuse is a type of drug addiction and causes dependence and serious disorders in the human body. This disease mainly affects children and adolescents aged 8 to 15 years. Substance abusers use plastic bags to inhale vapors of various toxic substances.

With substance abuse, a person experiences a slight euphoria, after a short period of time the consciousness becomes cloudy, the person loses orientation, and nausea begins. Strong toxic substances can cause delusions and hallucinations, loss of self-control, and impaired thinking. At very large doses, seizures may occur and the person may fall into a coma or die. Substance abusers use various varnishes, glue, and household chemicals for inhalation. All these substances are toxic to the human body.

Substance abuse is diagnosed by sunken and red eyes, persistent runny nose, and bronchitis. In a substance abuser, the development of personality stops, mental disorders occur, and its perversion is observed.

Types of substance abuse

Tranquilizers

With prolonged use of tranquilizers, dependence on them dissipates. Dependence on tranquilizers is a form of substance abuse. If a person with such an addiction takes a break from taking tranquilizers, this leads to insomnia, nightmares, a constant feeling of anxiety and unreasonable anxiety. Muscle cramps may occur, epileptic seizures, and acute psychoses are possible.

Caffenism

Coffee is a very common product in many parts of the world, but this type of substance abuse, such as caffeineism, is quite rare. With caffeineism, a person drinks up to 10 or even more cups of coffee a day, and sometimes he can eat so-called “coffee jelly.”

Chifir is often abused - it is a decoction of very strong tea. At first, it helps to improve performance, a person feels cheerful and energized. Abuse of chifir leads to exhaustion, cardiac arrhythmia, chronic gastritis, and emotional instability.

Smoking is also a type of substance abuse. Tobacco smoke contains about 30 substances harmful to the human body. These are nicotine, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydrocyanic acid, etc. The most dangerous substance for the human body is nicotine. In large doses, it inhibits nerve cells and paralyzes the action of the central nervous system. In men, nicotine promotes impotence.

In addition, smoking directly harms the respiratory system. Promotes the appearance of chronic bronchitis and causes spasms of heart vessels. Under the influence of nicotine, a smoker experiences excessive secretion of gastric juice, and this, in turn, can cause nausea and, as a result, vomiting.

Teenage substance abuse

Recently, teenage substance abuse has become quite widespread. You can often find a teenager on the street with a bag in his hands, inhaling fumes of toxic substances. The average age of young substance abusers is 8-15 years. Often teenage substance abuse manifests itself en masse. This can be a group of 2 or more people. Children from disadvantaged and low-income families become drug addicts.

Toxic substances have an extremely harmful effect on the child’s body. Externally, there is redness of the face and a gray color of the nasolabial triangle. The teenager's pupils are dilated, his hands tremble, his gait becomes unsteady, and coordination of movements is impaired.

In order to help a teenager get rid of substance abuse, he must first be isolated from dysfunctional company. In many cases this is enough. But when addiction has already formed, the help of a psychologist and narcologist is required.

Consequences of substance abuse

The consequences of substance abuse can manifest themselves in different ways. Depending on how long a person poisons his body in this way. At first it is muscle pain, nausea, cramps, headaches, insomnia. At the psychological level, severe depression, unconditional aggression, anger, irritability manifest themselves, and it becomes difficult for a person to control himself.

But after several months, the drug addict’s internal organs may begin to deteriorate, liver cirrhosis may be diagnosed, and the brain may also suffer irreversible damage. There is a high probability that in 2 years a substance abuser may become disabled. Frequent drug overdoses lead to dementia.

Treatment for substance abuse can only be carried out in a hospital.

It is necessary to restore impaired somatic functions, suppress mental dependence on substance abuse, and normalize the patient’s mental state.

The patient is detoxified, glucose is infused intravenously, diuretics and vitamins are prescribed. To eliminate depression in a patient, he is prescribed the drugs parasidol or amitriptyline.

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Drug addiction is a serious mental disorder that results in the patient’s dependence on a specific substance. It is not customary for drug addiction doctors to separate drug addiction and substance abuse, but to single out dependence in the inhalation of narcotic substances as a form of drug addiction.

Substance abuse is a type of drug addiction

Toxicological consequences and what is substance abuse

It is not unexpected news for anyone that in our country the problem of drug addiction is the most acute. This issue is especially relevant among young people from 8 to 15 years old during the transition period. If you don’t keep an eye on your child at such a moment, bad company can lead to disastrous consequences.

Features of addiction

Substance abuse is a type of drug addiction that can be fatal. Every year this addiction in our country becomes “younger”, and due to the general availability of narcotic substances (substance abusers most often use household chemicals) it becomes a real problem.

During the period of formation of a teenager’s personality, it is very important to pay attention not only to the child’s performance at school, but also to his behavior and the companies with which he communicates. Most often, a teenager gets his first drug experience in the company of older children or adults, so carefully monitor your child’s social circle.

Substance abuse is a subtype of drug addiction, which consists of taking drugs through the respiratory or digestive organs. Addicted teenagers inhale toxic chemicals from the package, after which the following occurs:

• Slight clouding of mind. The addict loses the ability to navigate in space.
• Dizziness appears.
• When inhaling vapors of chemical substances, a drug addict develops signs of intoxication of the body - nausea, vomiting, asthenic condition.
• In rare cases, seizures and coma may occur.

When inhaling toxic chemicals, mild mental confusion occurs

Signs

With prolonged substance abuse, it is quite simple to determine addiction; a person develops characteristic signs of substance abuse:

• Bronchitis and runny nose. These are the first signs of destruction of the mucous membranes under the influence of toxic fumes. A substance abuser is diagnosed with chronic symptoms.
• Sunken eyes, sallow complexion and obvious signs of anemia.
• Developmental delay and withdrawal. The effects of the drugs entail the death of brain cells, and as a result, the teenager shows clear signs of lagging behind normal development.
• A clear sign of substance abuse in adolescents is a craving for various kinds of perversions.
• Constant uncontrollable mood swings.

Types of disease

Substance abuse, like any addiction, has its own varieties. Types of substance abuse differ in the severity of harm to health and the drugs used.

The use of psychotropic tranquilizers, as well as antihistamines orally, is one of the severe forms of substance abuse. Long-term use of drugs can cause serious damage to health. When refusing tranquilizers, a patient suffering from substance abuse may experience:

• Insomnia, both complete and partial forms.
• Mental disorder. The appearance of panic attacks and a state of eternal persecution.
• If the patient sleeps, then he is haunted by constant nightmares. Acute psychoses may develop against the background of refusal to take medications.
• Convulsions and epileptic seizures.

Drug dependence occurs as a result of long-term use of psychotropic tranquilizers

Coffee mania

The modern pace of life requires a person to be in a constant state of combat readiness, but if you don’t have enough strength, you can cheer yourself up with coffee. But few people know that dependence on constant coffee consumption is also a form of substance abuse. With severe coffee addiction, a person does not have enough 10 cups of coffee a day, and often this form of substance abuse leads to the fact that in search of energy, a person no longer drinks coffee diluted with a large amount of water, but takes “coffee jelly” with a small part of water.

Therefore, the habit of drinking coffee in excessive quantities can also cause irreparable harm to health.

Chefir

The types of substance abuse are so diverse that sometimes bad habits are difficult to distinguish from drug addiction. Drinking large amounts of tea is a narcotic habit. In the first stages, the patient is content with using tea leaves in small doses diluted with water, but then the water becomes less and less, and its strength increases. When consuming chefir in large quantities, a person feels an increase in energy in the body, which quickly passes and can provoke the appearance of:

• Arrhythmias and cardiac dysfunction.
• Cause irritation of the digestive system and provoke gastritis.
• Disturb the mental state. Manifestations of mental instability, complete disorder, and the appearance of aggression are possible.

Smoking is one of the forms of drug addiction

Smoking is another form of drug addiction. In modern conditions, smoking is a real problem, and it is almost impossible to eradicate it. This habit came to us from afar and has firmly settled in the human consciousness.

Smoking can provoke irreparable changes in the human body and disrupt the functioning of many of its systems.

Nicotine, which is contained in tobacco smoke, affects not only the brain (killing its cells and inhibiting the overall perception of reality), but also the respiratory system of the body (with prolonged use of nicotine in the form of cigarettes, the smoker develops a cough and develops bronchitis).

Gasoline and gas

The most terrible form of drug addiction is gasoline or gas addiction. When inhaling gasoline or gas vapors, the destruction of brain cells occurs instantly, and the damage caused to the respiratory system is irreparable. The consequences of gasoline addiction are the most terrible; after this type of drug addiction, a person does not receive any satisfaction from other chemical drugs and the habit of obtaining euphoria forces the addict to switch to heroin.

Inhalation of gasoline vapors and gas abuse can provoke not only lung cancer, but also necrosis of internal organs. Inhaled vapors poison the body as a whole, settling in the liver and kidneys; the substances are not excreted and have a long-lasting toxic effect.

Substance abusers use household chemicals

Chemicals

Commonly available drugs that substance abusers most often use are household chemicals. There are frequent cases of varnishes and paints being used as toxic drugs. The effect of such inhalation does not last long and causes general persistent intoxication of the body.

Mechanisms of addiction development

After inhaling a poisonous drug, signs of drug intoxication appear, which are accompanied by symptoms:

• Tinnitus and loss of body coordination.
• A person cannot adequately respond to external stimuli, and a stage of fun begins.
• Three minutes after taking the drug (orally or by inhalation), short-term euphoria occurs.
• The general state of drug intoxication lasts about 10 - 15 minutes and sharply declines.

In order to prolong the feeling of euphoria and experience it again, the addict can use the drugs repeatedly or conduct inhalation sessions up to several dozen times.

Teenagers quickly get used to getting a high and try to experience euphoria more and more often. Patients do not remember the unpleasant sensations from using the drug, but only remember that very state of euphoria, which forces them to re-use the drug.

This is why it is important to monitor your child and his environment and prevent the habit from developing.

Consequences

The consequences of substance abuse are very destructive for the body not only of a teenager, but of any person. The harm of substance abuse lies in the constant use of toxic drugs, which by their effects cause a state of euphoria.

The habit of using toxic drugs is incurable; it is a serious mental disorder. Therefore, those people who did not die from exposure to toxic substances most often become drug addicts, which ultimately leads to death.

The dangerous consequences of substance abuse are:

• Burns of the respiratory tract. As a result of inhalation of gasoline or paint vapors that can cause a chemical burn.
• Lung cancer is a constant companion of all patients with substance abuse. Often it does not reach lung cancer; patients die more often from an abscess or complete necrosis.
• Cirrhosis of the liver. Toxic substances accumulate in the liver, causing it to rot.
• All kinds of pathologies of the cardiac system, which begin with arrhythmia.
• Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, which are accompanied by acute inflammatory processes.

The consequences of such a habit are disastrous not only for the drug addict himself, but also for society. Therefore, carefully monitor your relatives and friends and, if you notice the first signs, contact a specialist.